The Redemption of Barriss Offee
by ebi pers
Summary: "She could never be a Jedi again, would probably never even walk free again...Redemption would be a long road from here on out, but she would do anything for the chance." Barriss Offee desperately wants to right the wrongs she's created. Post season 5 oneshot, mostly because I hate what they did with Barriss Offee's character and I feel she deserves a redemption story. Please R&R!


**A/N: I should be working on my "Some Nights" saga but the way Filoni and his team ended season 5 really bugged me because it contradicts EVERYTHING we have thus far known and loved about Barriss Offee. And that made me ponder what drove her to the extremes she went to and how she could possibly turn back. And thus was born this small oneshot. Basically, we need a redemption and this is what I will henceforth consider canon despite what Dave Filoni and the Clone Wars writers think. Also, Barriss going rogue will have no impact on "Some Nights" because I have my own direction I'm heading with that. Anyway, here it is: The Redemption of Barriss Offee. Please read and review!**

**DISCLAIMER: I in no way take credit for these characters. They are solely the creation of the almighty George Lucas and they were led astray by Dave Filoni. If I owned the rights to these characters season 5 would have ended a lot differently. Anyway, the plot's all mine but nothing else. The end. Don't sue me all I own is a computer, a keyboard, and a few peanuts that sustain me.**

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The Mirialan looked at the Togruta for a second-just one-before casting her eyes down again, unable to face the girl who was once her best friend.

"Give me one reason why I should help you after everything you did to me?" the Togruta spoke coldly. There was no compassion in her blue eyes and Barriss knew she shouldn't expect any.

"Because," she spoke softly, "I was wrong. I may not agree with everything the Council is doing but my actions were...inexcusable," she chose her words carefully. "I hurt the people I care about most."

Ahsoka's voice softened a bit, but the steely look in her eyes never wavered. "Barriss...I don't like the War either but in trying to prevent the Dark Side from taking over the Order you were corrupted by it."

"I know," the Mirialan replied almost tearfully. "Ahsoka," it was the first time she had addressed her former friend by name, "I was wrong. I know that now. I see that now."

"Why would you frame me?" Ahsoka whispered so that Barriss had to pick her head up to look. There was a distant, sad look in the Togruta's eyes.

"I never meant for it to go this far. When I planned the explosion, I thought it would cause some damage...maybe kill a few clones. It was supposed to be a wake-up call for the Order. I never meant for Jedi to get hurt. And once they did, I panicked. I was afraid that someone would find out so I took the easy way out. I set you up because I was too afraid to face the consequences of my actions. And I'm so, so sorry. Please forgive me."

"It's not that easy, Barriss," Ahsoka replied, the icy tone seeping back into her voice. "They almost expelled me from the Order, they took my dignity. _You _took my dignity. And then you were all set to let them _execute _me!"

"No! That's not true!" There was a sense of urgency in Barriss' voice now, her blue eyes wide and imploring. "I never would have let them kill you, believe me! I was planning to break you out!"

"I'm sorry if I have a little trouble trusting in you," Ahsoka muttered.

"But it's true! I would have broken you out and smuggled you out of Coruscant."

"And then what?" the Togruta burst out lividly. "Let me live out my days in exile while you carried on like nothing was wrong? Let them keep thinking that I bombed the Temple and killed those people?"

"You would have been alive," Barriss whispered. "And the whole thing would have eventually blown over. Look I made some really, really bad choices but I never would have abandoned you."

"That's easy for you to say now, locked up in this cell. What did you call me here for anyway? Do you want me to make some kind of appeal on your behalf? Well that's not going to happen, Barriss. I'm not a Jedi anymore!"

The fallen Padawan's expression changed, shock registering on her face. "You're...you're not?"

"No! I left the Order because _they _didn't trust me when I told them the truth. Whose fault is that?"

Barriss fell into genuine sobs. "Ahsoka...I'm so, so sorry," she collapsed from the prison bunk, her petite frame shaking with her cries. "I...I didn't think it would go this far. It was never supposed to go this far..."

A mildly disgusted look fell on Ahsoka's face as she looked at the pitiful form of her one-time friend. "Well it did," she said with finality, rising to leave.

"Wait!" Barriss begged. "Hear me out for just a minute, please Ahsoka! Maybe I can help you get back into the Council's good graces! Maybe I can help you earn back whatever respect I caused you to lose!"

Ahsoka wheeled around. "What do you want, Barriss? Haven't you done enough? Why help me now?"

"Because," the Mirialan muttered. "You're one of my only friends. And I betrayed you. The least I could do is try to make it up to you."

"I'm listening," the Togruta's blue eyes narrowed.

"In the Underworld. There's a club there, The Hive. It's a seedy place where I met a few other revolutionaries. The owner is one of the leaders of the movement. If you capture him, the rest will fall apart. On the top floor of the club is where all the nano-droids are produced. If you take out the facility, the movement won't have any weapons to fight with."

"Last time you told me about a nano-droid factory, it turned out to be a trap. Why should I believe you this time?"

"I know you probably can't," Barriss said in earnest. "But I really am trying to help you."

"Good bye, Barriss." And with that, the former Jedi and former friend signalled to the guard to let her out. Barriss followed her progress with her eyes, then resumed staring at the white floor. How had she let it get to this point? Life imprisonment. She had always been a person of extremes, and idealist with a black-and-white perspective. When she was still a Jedi, she had rigidly obeyed the rules without ever making concessions due to circumstances. And when she had rebelled, let herself fall? She took it to the opposite extreme and ended up hurting those she loved and cared about. In her desperate attempt to keep the Dark Side from corrupting her beloved Order, she had let it corrupt herself. And now she wished she could take it all back.

Master Luminara would be so disappointed in her. Everything she had fought for, all the missions she'd gone on. She had thrown it all away. She didn't like the way the War was going, didn't like what was happening to the Jedi Order. But she realized now that she had taken it to an extreme. People _died _because of her. She had _killed_. She had opened herself to the Dark Side. She could never be a Jedi again, would probably never even walk free again. But she had to try to right this wrong. Redemption would be a long road from here on out, but she would do anything for the chance.

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**A/N: Aaaaand scene. What did you think? I purposely left the ending ambiguous but I hope you can infer something bright from it. I really hate what happened to Barriss' character in the Clone Wars. Not only was it lazy, predictable writing but it also ruined the arc of one of my favorite characters. And it messes up the Star Wars canon worse than killing Even Piell and Adi Gallia off before their times. But in my mind Barriss finds redemption and returns to the Order after a miraculous deed of heroism, thus restoring her original arc. I hope Filoni and company have something up their sleeve. Maybe Barriss is the victim of some shape-shifting Force users who set her up like they set up Ahsoka? That would also be predictable but it would spare my favorite Padawan (there, I said it) her reputation. Maybe I'll do a story like that...**

**...just kidding. I should get back to drafting "Some Nights" so I'll just beg you one last time for a review. Pretty please?**


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